Archive for the ‘hints and tips’ Category

Selling up, moving out

Monday, April 19th, 2010

With Mortgage lending up more than 24% the housing market could finally be moving out of the doldrums.  What is clear is that selling a property is more competitive than ever – and when it comes to selling a house or flat there are plenty of ‘tricks of the trade’ to help buyers choose your property over one down the street.

There’s a whole heap of advice out there to take – from media personalities like Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsop of Location, Location, Location fame right through to consumer champions Which?

Close to the top of nearly every expert’s top-tips is de-cluttering – removing furniture and clearing away the personal effects to improve ’space appeal’.That’s easier said than done. You need to find space somewhere else for all that stuff. What do you do if your parents loft is as good as 300 miles away and your local friends face the same challenges to you when it comes to being able to swing a cat in their ‘living’ room.

One answer is self storage.  Of course you don’t know if you’ll reach ’sale agreed’  within a week, month or year so it’s worth finding a storage company that has a short minimum term agreement and most importantly ‘No notice on vacate’.  For most the minimum term of notice is a month –  if you’re one week into your third month when you complete you’ll be left paying for 3 weeks of storage you don’t need.

With ABC Selfstore in Camden, Wandsworth and Southwark we charge by the day, there’s no minimum term and you can move out whenever you want.   So if you get really lucky and sell your house in the first two months you won’t be end up being stung for more than the days you store.

Of course – it’s likely you’ll want to hang on to your storage until you complete and it’s time to move (why lug stuff back to the property only to have to move it out again) – and the same great value applies, however long your stay.

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Making Room for Business

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

It’s a tricky thing to plan business development when there’s so much uncertainty about what – economically speaking – is likely to happen next. So it’s understandable that most of us don’t want to take any undue risks. As the much talked about green shoots of recovery start to sprout you might be looking at ways to expand your business – but how do you keep expansion risk-free with the added uncertainty of a volatile economic climate? Especially when part of that expansion is likely to be limited by the cost of the physical space you need to operate your business.

Priya Cinar, Store Manager at ABC Selfstore Camden in York Way explains, “We’re seeing more and more business customers looking for flexibility in the way they use physical space. Some want to be in a position where they can plan stock storage around demand, others to be ready to react – either way – to uncertain economic conditions. Flexibility is the key and being tied into a long-term lease doesn’t really allow that. Our business customers like the fact that they can rent the storage space they need by the day, without being tied into lengthy contracts.”

So if you’re about to take delivery of your summer colections, need to move clutter out of the office to make room for new staff or just need more storage space – self storage is well worth considering.

And if you’re new to it ABC Selfstore’s website – www.abcselfstore.co.uk/flexible – has a handy ‘Self storage for beginners’ guide.

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Try not to get addicted to popping the bubble wrap

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

In the second installment of our hints and tips on getting the best from your self storage – we look at organising your unit and packaging your things.

So you’ve planned your move-in with the precision of a special forces operation. You know what’s going in which box and the order they’ll go into your unit. Great, but it’s worth giving the layout of your unit and packaging of the stuff you want to store some thought as well.  There’s nothing worse than finding your back catalogue of first edition Beatles vinyl has been wrecked – because you boxed it vertically – and then stacked the last 10 years worth of subscriptions to Rolling Stone magazine on top.

Firstly – leave space for access to the rear of the unit and avoid leaning things against walls – it helps ventilation. Whilst professional storage units are warm and dry the things you are storing could need to breathe.

Secondly – protect fragile items with bubble wrap, mark the box ‘Fragile’ and avoid putting heavy items on top. You may of course get sidetracked by the therapeutic properties of bubble-wrap. This link might help you get that urge out of the way.

You can also make the most of your space by dismantling furniture where possible (you’ll fit more in). Detach legs from tables and beds to save space and wrap the legs in more of that bubble wrap to avoid damage. Likewise stacking chairs seat to seat can also help save space and putting cloth or bubble wrap in between will help protect them if they are valuable or antique.  In fact, covering the lot with dust sheets is a good idea to keep them protected from scratches or bumps.

If you are storing clothes then using wardrobe boxes to keep them on hangers is a must if you want to avoid them getting mis-shaped. Stand mattresses on end and avoid stacking heavy items on soft furnishings, besides laying them down might encourage you to take a nap and you’re not allowed to sleep in your storage unit.

Of course, if you need real bubble wrap – or any packaging items for storing for that matter – you can get them from our shop in store, or from boxes to move.

Happy storing – and don’t forget you can find out more hints and tips for storing on our website in our Self-storage for beginners section on the ABC Selfstore website.

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How to avoid looking for a needle in a haystack, or an antique necklace in a storage unit…

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

In the first of our guides offering you some handy hints and tips on making the best of your storage space – we look at moving your stuff and how to make the most of your space.

If you want to avoid having to search for a needle in a haystack, a share certificate in a ‘piling system’ or a gold bracelet in a strong box you need to plan your move in from the point you pack – at home or office.

Knowing what is in which box is the first step. Now you could number your boxes, boot up the computer and record a complete inventory  - with all the precision of an international shipping company – or you could just scrawl a list of what’s inside on the side of your boxes in marker pen.  Whichever technique you choose it means you’ll at least have some idea of what’s where once it is all packed into your storage unit.

It’s also well worth planning the layout of your storage unit – especially if you want to avoid that ‘I’m-going-to-be-here-all-day’ sinking feeling. Like when you realise box 4 (buried behind boxes 5 to 20) is where you put that pair of diamond earrings you had an inkling might be worth something – and you just saw them on Antiques roadshow valued at £3,000.

A simple rule – last in/first out – is worth remembering when you pack your storage unit (just to make life more complicated the opposite is true when you pack to bring your stuff to the store – first into your van or car will be last out).

It might all seem obvious – but a little time now will almost certainly save you load of re-stacking, along with a stack load of time later.

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